The growing awareness of global health’s importance in the careers of young doctors has led to the incorporation of international training in many medical, pre- and post-graduate programs. The goal is to train a new generation of doctors who are multicultural and aware of global dynamics, including in the healthcare field.
Despite these programs’ advantages, they are lacking the chance for residents to gain experience in the field in countries with limited resources, which is essential for developing international medicine skills. An exception is the JPO (Junior Project Officer) program, a partnership between the School of Specialization in Pediatrics, University of Padua and the NGO Doctors with Africa–CUAMM.
The program provides a training course for residents with the option of spending a training period in the field from six to 12 months in one of the hospitals where CUAMM operates in Ethiopia or Mozambique.
The article, published in 2014 in the Italian Journal of Pediatrics, describes the implementation of the project between 2006 and 2012, with 16 residents in the field. The authors, among the project’s organizers for both parties, sought to provide a clear example of the importance of programs like this and stimulating debate on the topic, encouraging other pediatric specialization schools to offer similar opportunities for training in the field.